To Holyrood, where parliamentarians will tomorrow vote on Scotland’s assisted dying bill. Scottish Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur has put forward legislation that would allow those deemed terminally ill north of the border to take their own lives – as Kim Leadbeater’s bill for England and Wales makes its way through Westminster. But support for the Scottish legislation is waning north of the border, and now Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has announced he will not back the bill. How very interesting…
Sarwar will vote against the assisted dying bill tomorrow after stating he does not believe the proposed legislation include ‘sufficient safeguards to provide the reassurance and protection that would one needed in such a sensitive area’. Instead, the Labour MSP – who has written about his intentions in the Daily Record – insists access to palliative care resources should be improved. ‘Our hospice and care sectors do remarkable work, and I commend them for it — but there is still more government can do to ensure people have the support they need, including the ability to die at home if they wish,’ Sarwar wrote. He went on:
Too often I have heard by people say they wouldn’t want to be a burden on their families. That sentiment worries me, and I don’t want anyone to feel pressured – even subtly – to end their life because of it. Lastly, I have been struck by the words of disability campaigners like my friend Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP who says for too many ‘we haven’t yet delivered the right to live, never mind the right to die’.
The Scottish Labour leader follows SNP First Minister John Swinney and his predecessor Humza Yousaf in declaring his intention to vote against the bill tomorrow. The SNP leader – whose wife has multiple sclerosis – told reporters that he ‘agonised’ over his decision but that he is ‘a man of faith and I can’t separate myself from that’. Meanwhile Yousaf said he was not convinced there would be ‘strongh enough safeguards’ to protect vulnerable people, adding the bill would ‘open a door that cannot be closed’.
The decision by Sir Keir Starmer’s Scottish counterpart comes after weekend reports that Downing Street is cooling on Leadbeater’s euthanasia bill, while the Prime Minister will skip this Friday’s vote on the legislation. Will politicians north and south of the border opt to pull the plug on the UK’s assisted dying legislation? Stay tuned…
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